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So, last Saturday me and my dad got to work on my Cavalier. And it's time for me to give back to the community some. And away we go! :slayer: First part Big 3! 2004 Silver Chevrolet Cavalier^ Engine bay with battery and intake/filter removed^ Battery/filter bay.^ Crappy wiring which I hope to make really nice by mounting amps to back of rear seat.^ Head-amp removed as per last album's releasing of magic smoke. You can find that here.^ Current amp rack. Crappy job really needs some tlc.^ Current amp rack from behind. Crappy job really needs some tlc.^ Wiring from cab to computer/engine bay + 1/0 awg for amplifiers in trunk.^ If you can tell that's the alternator where I need to run 1/0 awg from to the battery for better power flow. Engine mount which I will be changing when I can. Engine mount which I did change much nicer than the crappy gm thing. 250A ANL style fuse block. Mounted to air intake filter assembly. Grounding point for engine ground. Runs to chassis ground. and from there to bat negative (-). Chassis ground. Runs to bat negative (-). Negative grounding block. Original wiring left in place just added 1/0 everywhere. Wiring done. So perty! =D Wiring done. So perty! =D Random shots of it being nice and all. 1/0 awg runs into cabin and goes into 2/0 (or something like that, no idea why, ordered it and it said 4awg. As long as it's bigger who cares?) Engine bay put back together. Bought 2 12" DCON's Dual 4ohm so those are on the way. Already have Polk momo 6x9's in the rear (love 'em, hard custom install though). Crappy pioneer 4x6's in the front (only thing that fits). I do plan on replacing these when I learn enough about molding and such. Today me and my dad will be working on the amp rack behind the rear seats. And Yesterday I started work on the sub enclosure. So hopefully I'll get some more pics up tonight. Took me awhile to get this whole image-shack thing working To all the Cavvy lovers out there this is for you guys.

I vote a DCON or an X.

Most HUs can't put out enough voltage to cause most amps to clip with the gain set to minimum. And actually in the simplest of terms, the gain knob is precisely a volume control.

First, no one is going to be able to tell you the answer to where to set the crossover points over the internet. I could throw out some arbitrary frequencies, but they wouldn't do you any real good. It's going to depend on the limitations of the Selenium (which we weren't even given a model # for in your post) and various other factors. However, I don't really see the point in running 3-way with a 6" midbass, 6" midrange and a tweeter. It pretty much defeats the purpose of using a 3-way set. One of the advantages of 3-way is to allow the majority of the midrange to come from a single location.....the midrange. With using a 6" midrange, you are going to be restricted to a fairly low crossover point (for a 3-way setup)......you'll get some advantage in have more control over phase relationships, but not the full benefit of going 3-way. IMO you need to rethink your plan. And no offense.....but if you have to ask someone else to tell you what crossover points to use, you probably aren't ready for a 3-way active frontstage.

For most daily driver systems there really isn't any point. It makes some people feel like they have a bigger dingaling I suppose, and it's "cooler" to say you have 2500w instead of 2kw. In SPL systems it makes sense to pump every last watt through the system as .1db could be the difference between 1st and 2nd. But for daily systems......no.

The gain on the master amp is a little over half way up, and with the gain knob it's a little below half way up. You think thats too high? I'm going to call you ina second. This varies based on the source voltage -- I would just slowly turn it down until the amp stops going into protect

I ran my 15" XCONS sealed for a little while. They will pound. I was very surprised at the output. I actually LOVED them sealed. The attack and transient response was off the chain.

Ready for an update? After a good Thanksgiving. My speakers are in! SSA 12" DCON's (2) Image Dynamic OEM V1 Midbass Image Dynamic CX54 components. 11-28-10 11-28-10 11-28-10 11-28-10 11-28-10 11-28-10 11-28-10 11-28-10 11-28-10 11-28-10 11-28-10 11-28-10 11-28-10 11-28-10 11-28-10 11-28-10 11-28-10 11-28-10 I plan on actually installing everything sometime after the 12th as my last final is on the 14th. Until then lots and lots of research on installing components, fiberglassing, sound deadening, the works!

While I can't say whether or not a single comp set will "keep up" to your level, I've always kind of thought the way SPL guys go about it is a bit idiotic. HLCD + large midbass would be the way to go, IMO. Much more simplistic setup, and one that actually possesses the acoustic capabilities of maintaining good, accurate sound at the same time. Imagine the possibilities of an SPL vehicle that actually imaged well and sounded good from 80hz and up! (when you weren't playing the system at 150db, as nothing will sound "good" at that output level) For one, HLCD are capable of getting loud enough to literally deafen you. Literally, deafen you. If you think 150db of subbass is loud, consider what ~130db of midrange would sound like (if you don't know the difference in your hearing's sensitivity between subbass and midrange, look up the Equal Loudness Curve). And you'd only need ~50wpc to do it. So from about 800hz and up (for a non-minibodied horn), you won't have to worry about being "drowned out" as the HLCD should cause you physical pain long before you had any problems from the subwoofers. Now let's look at the midwoofer. You currently have a trio of 6.5" drivers. The average 6.5" driver is going to have an Sd of around 135cm^2 from what I've seen. If we replaced the trio of 6.5's with a single 10" midbass (Sd ~345cm^2 for the 10" drivers without large subwoofer-type surrounds), you'd only lose about 15% in cone area, which for a given excursion level is a difference of only 1.4db......or just barely in the realm of noticeable audibility. There are some other things to consider, like the possibility of the 10" midbass having a larger Xmax increasing output potential in the midbass region and the possibility of lower power compression, etc. But if we just keep everything equal for the sake of discussion, the realistic difference between a single 10" midbass and a trio of 6.5" drivers is going to be almost negligible. Chances are pretty good that at the output levels you're describing, you won't notice a difference. So there you have it. A pretty simple 4 speaker system that would be more than adequate for your output needs and actually be able to retain some semblance of good sound at lower SPL levels with the right driver selection. No, I've not built a 150db setup because SPL just doesn't interest me all that much. And no, I don't any pictures or videos to show you because for whatever reason most SPL guys don't pursue this route (my guess would be first, it's not as impressive to open a door and see 2 speakers instead of 16 [since horns aren't very visible] and two, it's a simple case of "monkey see monkey do"). But that doesn't negate anything I've said in my post. Pictures might comfort you more than numbers, but the numbers aren't wrong just because they aren't accompanied by pretty pictures. If you have a way of disputing the numbers, I'd be much more interested in that than seeing pictures. Oh.....I do kinda have one example. RC's GN had old school horns under the dash, 12" mids in the rear quarters and a pair of 15" subs at the rear seats....it is said to have been able to do over 135db full range, which is completely different than 135db in the subbass region. A true, consistent 130db in the midrange would get very painful very quickly, and much exposure would leave you with permanent hearing damage.

Video of mids! WOO!

No see, this is where you aren't understanding how this works. You take a BTL and give it 1 watt, it will be louder than any other FI sub with 1 watt. The BTL has the highest RMS rating, but requires the least amount of power for comparable output.... But this is a dead horse at this point, some people get this, others will "Give it it's RMS".....

Just because you didn't hear something that can keep up, does that mean that nobody needs to try ?

Popped in some Korn today. Best i've ever heard that bad. Love it! these mids really shine with those quick drumb beats from the rock/metal genre. Ill have to get some tool in there and see whats going on. i think the carbons need more power than what this 100.4 can give them darn it. Finals are coming up next week so progress will be slow. I'll start talking to bromo about a box design. Have some decisions to make! Need to make a mount for my amp. Hope i can get this done this weekend. Cant really see where to mount the wood though. I'll figure it out. I tooke the back storage bin out to run the wires, don't think i'm going to put it back it. Just complicate things. I'm pretty sure the new box or amps will cover this anyways. As it sits, today. And the deck stuffed with RCAs

With mids installed...

And for the hardest part of the install... Cut some holes in the door car for the tweeters. I'm sure some CRX fans would kick me for doing this. But oh well. It's done. Tweets in Driver door with "pod" and tweet installed.

I don't know if i'm very happy with the way my "pods" turned out for the mids. Aesthetically i dont really mind them, what do i expect for my first try? I now can think of a lot of things i can do differently. Ill try and explain what i did with a step by step process. I had some mdf rings made, and formed one side of them to sit flush on the stock speaker grills, and cut out a hole to fit the carbon's basket and terminals. Put a strip of EBR between the wood and plastic grill, screwed it together from the back, and put some clear coat/paint to prevent any possible water to reach the wood. I then used some CLD tiles to deaden/seal the extra holes on the back of the stock speaker grill. A little more was added after this pic. They were then wrapped in some fake leather lookin' stuff that matched my door's fake leather looking stuff. This is extremely difficult, but i blame the glue for not drying quick enough and allowing slack which caused wrinkles in the fabric. oh well, appearance doesnt matter much right now. The factory speaker baffle has a frame behind that shields from water getting to the speaker, while still having holes and such to let air flow, so i left those on the door. These are screwed/bolted to the metal of the door. I then attached the modified speaker grills to the door, having left some material inside the ring of wood. These places allowed me to bolt the grill to the metal/factory baffle on the door. Only the first picture has been bolted/screwed in place, haven't done that step in the other pics. they are just there to show how they look. From sitting positions... I don't know what to think about them. They work, but i'm just wondering how to seal them to the door, so there is no air movement between the beauty panel on the door and the metal. Any ideas? modeling clay, maybe? Or did i just confuse everyone on what i did?

That day i didnt check the mailbox 'till about 8 pm, when i noticed my tweets showed up the same day. Very nice day it was! Photos galore! Sittin' on the 100.4 i've had for over a year. Super excited at this point.

Mids arriving! No AA stickers?! Carbon fiber, baby!

I got the amp rack done. And the whole family is pitching in! My mom painted. It looks pretty. I'm amazed this is going as well as it is, being my first build and all. Sorry for the crappy pics. Best camera I have is my Droid...

I told my dad, he said, "thanks" (or something along those lines). Now for the update. Drawing for amp rack that's going on the rear seats. I feel this is a smart area to put the amps any ideas as to why not i'm open to. Though I have already commenced building... Rear tie-bar. Very nice for taking corners fast While back I got Polk 6x9 momo's cheap 40bux for 2. (great deal), but they don't fit so I jerry-rigged it to the best of my ability. I think it went well. Left to do: Finish amp rack. Finish sub box. Run front ch wires. Run rear ch wires. Wire amps up. Do signal/phase testing. Set xovers. Make more money to buy dampening... Set-up Christmas lights Yeah, lots to do.

Where do i get that enclosure? EDIT: Will the BTL have better or Equal SQ to L7s? Enclosure right here from SSA. Get the BL you will love it. Where are the prices...where do i order? http://khaotikenclosures.com/

This is the biggest mistake people make. You think because the RMS rating is higher, it needs more power? I still saw the "Give it RMS" a few posts ago, lol....... I understand a higher rated rns driver can still play fine and be loud with WAY less then rated power. I understand that, but some drivers have stiff suspension and are made to outperform their counterparts ON more power. For instance yes you could run a BTL on 500watts or 1000watts and it's going to sound good. But a BL on the same 500watts or 1000watts is likely to perform just as well. But once you throw 2kw to a BL and BTL then the BTL really shines. So if your only gonna run 500watts or whatever then why spend all the money on a BTL when you could just get a BL... At least this is what I always believed to be true.

whats going on . I have to make these stupid post . So I saying whats up and Bass Da Nation Fool!